Astros targeted spring training site under review

Astros owner Jim Crane said five months ago that the club was awaiting “final approval with the city” to build a new spring training stadium in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Now the team may have to settle on building in a new municipality altogether.

City officials in Palm Beach Gardens on Thursday asked their county reps to evaluate other sites for a stadium, which could put pressure on the Astros to move to a different but nearby city.

Giles Kibbe, the Astros’ general counsel, told the Chronicle on Thursday night that he did not consider the news a blow to the team’s efforts to settle in its targeted location.

“I don’t think it’s a setback at all,” Kibbe said. “I think it’s a good opportunity for Palm Beach Gardens and Palm Beach County to just make sure that they looked at every possible location. We’re happy that they’re going through that process. I think it’s the right thing to do, with so many people interested in where the place will be built if it’s going to happen.”

The Astros have trained at Osceola County Stadium in Kissimmee since 1985. That lease expires in 2016.

The Astros and Blue Jays are looking to build a shared complex, but there’s been local opposition to the current proposed location, which is near I-95. Noise, traffic and funding are all reported concerns, and at least three other sites may be looked at, according to the Palm Beach Post. Two are in the city of West Palm Beach.

The current site the Astros desire, located on Central Boulevard in Palm Beach Gardens, has not been ruled out, Kibbe said. The team is open-minded, but the new location has to be able to draw fans.

“We’re focused on a couple of things,” Kibbe said. “We need to drive attendance to make this work. A better site — we’re always interested in what people are suggesting, and if they have a different opportunity or different locations then we’ll look at them. We need to be comfortable that the stadium will be built in a place that will draw the maximum attendance. That’s what we’re focused on. If they have a better location, then we’re interested in that. If not, then we’ll be looking to go back to the current location.”

Palm Beach Gardens city manager Ron Ferris reportedly said in a statement Thursday that the city “does not have a financial commitment from the two major league baseball teams.”

Kibbe said that Ferris’ statement was not to be taken critically, but as matter of fact.

“I don’t think it’s a criticism. It’s an honest statement,” Kibbe said. “It’s a true statement. We just haven’t gotten to that point. First we have to pin down the location, then we have to make sure that the financing from the state is there. We need to get the commitment from the county on the financing from their end. And then we’ll evaluate it from that point.”

Palm Beach Gardens’ city council elections are set for March 11, which led some to suggest to the Palm Beach Post that election tactics are in play.

More than 200 residents attended a meeting on the issue at city hall in Palm Beach Gardens on Nov. 7. Kibbe said the team is sensitive to the concerns of locals, and indicated that there isn’t a time crunch — at least not yet.

“It’s still early,” Kibbe said. “We need to be there in January of 2017. If we’re going somewhere else, then we need to be in there in January of 2017. We’re looking at a two-year construction project, so we have some time. But we don’t want to wait too long, we’d like to get this thing moving and get started. There’s plenty of time right now.”